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PubMed1990

The babel of the unconscious.

This paper illustrates our clinical and personal experiences concerning the vast and complex theme of 'Polylingualism in psychoanalysis'. The issue of polylingualism and polyglotism reintroduces some general psychoanalytic hypotheses. For instance, is the nature of the unconscious predominantly pre-verbal, or is it structured as a language? What occurs if some languages are known since very early childhood, and belong to a pre-symbolic structural patrimony closely bound to bodily sensations and concrete experiences? How does the learning of new languages, later on, affect or modify thought processes? How do new and old unconscious 'thing' and 'word' representations interact with each other? What are the related problems regarding repression and memory? Our paper illustrates and discusses problems of communication and comprehension within the clinical situation, in cases when the analytic language is not the mother-tongue of the analyst, or of the patient, or of either of them.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Relative language proficiency modulates BOLD signal change when bilinguals perform semantic judgments. Blood oxygen level dependent.

The effect of relative language proficiency on the spatial distribution and magnitude of BOLD signal change was evaluated by studying two groups of right-handed English-Mandarin bilingual participants with contrasting language proficiencies as they made semantic judgments with words and characters. Greater language proficiency corresponded to shorter response times and greater accuracy in the semantic judgment task. Within the left prefrontal and parietal regions, the change in BOLD signal was smaller in a participant's more proficient language. The least proficient performance was associated with right, in addition to left, inferior frontal activation. The results highlight the importance of taking into consideration nature of task and relative language proficiency when drawing inferences from functional imaging studies of bilinguals.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

On the skew distribution of immunoglobulins and the inverted protein-folding problem.

The question of antibody specificity is discussed in the framework of the inverted protein-folding problem (i.e. the characterization of protein sequences with a common fold). A stochastic model of the immune response, patterned after a model for the distribution of words in natural languages is proposed. It is shown that the steady-state probability distribution of immunoglobulin variable-region frequencies is the Yule distribution.

Antibody Specificity↗

PubMed1998

Mental rotation within linguistic and non-linguistic domains in users of American sign language.

American sign language (ASL) uses space itself to encode spatial information. Spatial scenes are most often described from the perspective of the person signing (the 'narrator'), such that the viewer must perform what amounts to a 180 degrees mental rotation to correctly comprehend the description. But scenes can also be described, non-canonically, from the viewer's perspective, in which case no rotation is required. Is mental rotation during sign language processing difficult for ASL signers? Are there differences between linguistic and non-linguistic mental rotation? Experiment 1 required subjects to decide whether a signed description matched a room presented on videotape. Deaf ASL signers were more accurate when viewing scenes described from the narrator's perspective (even though rotation is required) than from the viewer's perspective (no rotation required). In Experiment 2, deaf signers and hearing non-signers viewed videotapes of objects appearing briefly and sequentially on a board marked with an entrance. This board either matched an identical board in front of the subject or was rotated 180 degrees. Subjects were asked to place objects on their board in the orientation and location shown on the video, making the appropriate rotation when required. All subjects were significantly less accurate when rotation was required, but ASL signers performed significantly better than hearing non-signers under rotation. ASL signers were also more accurate in remembering object orientation. Signers then viewed a video in which the same scenes were signed from the two perspectives (i.e. rotation required or no rotation required). In contrast to their performance with real objects, signers did not show the typical mental rotation effect. Males outperformed females on the rotation task with objects, but the superiority disappeared in the linguistic condition. We discuss the nature of the ASL mental rotation transformation, and we conclude that habitual use of ASL can enhance non-linguistic cognitive processes thus providing evidence for (a form of) the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

On the nature of the verbal memory deficit in Alzheimer's disease.

Verbal memory was investigated in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with previously documented deficits in word production and comprehension. Procedures were employed to evaluate word recall and recognition within the context of both "multistore" and "levels of processing" models of memory. In addition, memory abilities were evaluated with respect to performance on measures of verbal fluency and language comprehension. As expected, the AD patients performed significantly worse than normal individuals on all tasks. However, in each experiment their pattern of recall across conditions was found to be qualitatively similar to that produced by normal subjects. It was argued that the memory impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease may be largely due to an inability to encode a sufficient number of stimulus features or attributes. Furthermore, this encoding deficit includes, but is not limited to, semantic attributes. Similarities between the performance of the AD patients and reported findings with Korsakoff patients and normal subjects with "weak" memory were discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed2025

Novel approaches and applications in identifying DNA methylation markers of cardio-kidney-metabolic disease.

Cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) diseases represent a major public health challenge, accounting for a large proportion of global burden of morbidity and mortality. These conditions share risk factors, including genetic predisposition, environmental exposures, and lifestyle influences, which collectively drive disease development and progression. Epigenetic modifications, particularly DNA methylation (DNAm), serve as key mediators and biomarkers between these risk factors and disease phenotypes by regulating gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. Epigenome-wide association studies have identified DNAm markers associated with CKM diseases and related phenotypes, highlighting both shared pathways and disease-specific epigenetic signatures in inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and aging-related processes. Longitudinal studies further demonstrate the dynamic nature of DNAm changes over time, offering insights into disease trajectories. Additionally, methylation risk scores integrating multiple epigenetic markers show promise in improving disease prediction and risk stratification beyond traditional clinical factors. To synthesize the current evidence, we conducted a targeted literature search in PubMed for English-language, peer-reviewed articles published between 2014 and the present. Future research leveraging large, well-phenotyped cohorts, advanced statistical methods, and innovative study designs will be critical for uncovering novel biomarkers, refining risk prediction models, and developing targeted epigenetic therapies to mitigate the global burden.

Humans↗

PubMed1999

Multidimensional approach to the differential diagnosis of central auditory processing disorders in children.

Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) may be viewed as a multidimensional entity with far-reaching communicative, educational, and psychosocial implications for which differential diagnosis not only is possible but also is essential to an understanding of its impact and to the development of efficacious, deficit-specific management plans. This paper begins with a description of some behavioral central auditory assessment tools in current clinical use. Four case studies illustrate the utility of these tools in clarifying the nature of auditory difficulties. Appropriate treatment options that flow logically from the diagnoses are given in each case. The heterogeneity of the population presenting with auditory processing problems, not unexpected based on this model, is made clear, as is the clinical utility of central auditory tests in the transdisciplinary assessment and management of children's language and learning difficulties.

Auditory Diseases, Central↗

PubMed1980

Lawfulness in lexical choice: a natural experiment.

The choice of specific words during face-to-face conversations may be just as overdetermined as the choice of words during free association. To explore this hypothesis, we looked in detail at three words used by patients who were at risk for cervical cancer and who were interviewed during a hospital visit for cone biopsy. We hypothesized that an ongoing disease process would influence choice of language, even though the interviews were conducted before the patients were informed of the results of the biopsy. We also hypothesized that choice of words by the interviewer would be affected by the patient's language. More distant derivatives, if they can be identified, may also behave in an equally lawful manner, and further research is needed to find ways of uncovering and measuring these silent markers.

Attitude to Death↗

PubMed1991

On the fundamental nature of perception.

The process of recognition or isolation of one or several entities from among many possible entities is termed intellego perception. It is shown that not only are many of our everyday percepts of this type, but perception of microscopic events using the methods of quantum mechanics are also intellego in nature. Information theory seems to be a natural language in which to express perceptual activity of this type. It is argued that the biological organism quantifies its sensations using an information theoretical measure. This, in turn, sets the stage for a mathematical theory of sensory perception.

Humans↗

PubMed2006

Hydrogen exchange and mass spectrometry: A historical perspective.

Protein molecules naturally emit streams of information-rich signals in the language of hydrogen exchange concerning the intimate details of their stability, dynamics, function, changes therein, and effects thereon, all resolved to the level of their individual amino acids. The effort to measure protein hydrogen exchange behavior, understand the underlying chemistry and structural physics of hydrogen exchange processes, and use this information to learn about protein properties and function has continued for 50 years. Recent work uses mass spectrometric analysis together with an earlier proteolytic fragmentation method to extend the hydrogen exchange capability to large biologically interesting proteins. This article briefly reviews the advances that have led us to this point and the understanding that has so far been achieved.

Deuterium Exchange Measurement↗

PubMed2003

Speaking with a mirror: engagement of mirror neurons via choral speech and its derivatives induces stuttering inhibition.

'Choral speech', 'unison speech', or 'imitation speech' has long been known to immediately induce reflexive, spontaneous, and natural sounding fluency, even the most severe cases of stuttering. Unlike typical post-therapeutic speech, a hallmark characteristic of choral speech is the sense of 'invulnerability' to stuttering, regardless of phonetic context, situational environment, or audience size. We suggest that choral speech immediately inhibits stuttering by engaging mirror systems of neurons, innate primitive neuronal substrates that dominate the initial phases of language development due to their predisposition to reflexively imitate gestural action sequences in a fluent manner. Since mirror systems are primordial in nature, they take precedence over the much later developing stuttering pathology. We suggest that stuttering may best be ameliorated by reengaging mirror neurons via choral speech or one of its derivatives (using digital signal processing technology) to provide gestural mirrors, that are nature's way of immediately overriding the central stuttering block.

Humans↗

PubMed1994

A corpus-based study of repair cues in spontaneous speech.

The occurrence of disfluencies in fully natural speech poses difficult challenges for spoken language understanding systems. For example, although self-repairs occur in about 10% of spontaneous utterances, they are often unmodeled in speech recognition systems. This is partly due to the fact that little is known about the extent to which cues in the speech signal may facilitate automatic repair processing. In this paper, acoustic and prosodic cues to self-repairs are identified, based on an analysis of a corpus taken from the ARPA Air Travel Information System database, and methods are proposed for exploiting these cues for repair detection, especially the task of modeling word fragments, and repair correction. The relative contributions of these speech-based cues, as well as other text-based repair cues, are examined in a statistical model of repair site detection that achieves a precision rate of 91% and recall of 86% on a prosodically labeled corpus of repair utterances.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMed2002

An endogenous distributed model of ordering in serial recall.

We introduce a distributed model of memory for serial order, called SOB, that produces ordered serial recall by relying on encoding and retrieval processes that are endogenous to the model. SOB explains the basic shape of the serial position curve, the pattern of errors during recall (including the balance between transpositions, omissions, intrusions, and erroneous repetitions), the effects of list length on the distribution of errors, the overall level of recall and response latency, and the effects of natural language frequency on recall performance. In addition, contrary to several recent suggestions, SOB demonstrates that distributed representations can support unambiguous recall, selective response suppression, and novelty-sensitive encoding.

Humans↗

PubMed2006

Children's naming and word-finding difficulties: descriptions and explanations.

PURPOSE: There is a substantial minority of children for whom lexical retrieval problems impede the normal pattern of language development and use. These problems include accurately producing the correct word even when the word's meaning is understood. Such problems are often referred to as word-finding difficulties (WFDs). This article examines the nature of naming and lexical retrieval difficulties in these and other groups of children. METHOD: A review of the relevant literature on lexical access difficulties in children with word-finding difficulties was conducted. Studies were examined in the terms of population parameters and comparison groups included in the study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Most discussions of the cognitive processes causing lexical retrieval difficulties refer to semantics, phonology, and processing speed. The authors propose that understanding of these topics will be further advanced by the use of appropriate methodology to test developmental models. In this way it will be possible to identify the processes that contribute to successful lexical retrieval and the processes that result in retrieval difficulties.

Child↗

PubMed2005

The neural mechanisms of speech comprehension: fMRI studies of semantic ambiguity.

A number of regions of the temporal and frontal lobes are known to be important for spoken language comprehension, yet we do not have a clear understanding of their functional role(s). In particular, there is considerable disagreement about which brain regions are involved in the semantic aspects of comprehension. Two functional magnetic resonance studies use the phenomenon of semantic ambiguity to identify regions within the fronto-temporal language network that subserve the semantic aspects of spoken language comprehension. Volunteers heard sentences containing ambiguous words (e.g. 'the shell was fired towards the tank') and well-matched low-ambiguity sentences (e.g. 'her secrets were written in her diary'). Although these sentences have similar acoustic, phonological, syntactic and prosodic properties (and were rated as being equally natural), the high-ambiguity sentences require additional processing by those brain regions involved in activating and selecting contextually appropriate word meanings. The ambiguity in these sentences goes largely unnoticed, and yet high-ambiguity sentences produced increased signal in left posterior inferior temporal cortex and inferior frontal gyri bilaterally. Given the ubiquity of semantic ambiguity, we conclude that these brain regions form an important part of the network that is involved in computing the meaning of spoken sentences.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2005

Prosody-driven sentence processing: an event-related brain potential study.

Four experiments systematically investigating the brain's response to the perception of sentences containing differing amounts of linguistic information are presented. Spoken language generally provides various levels of information for the interpretation of the incoming speech stream. Here, we focus on the processing of prosodic phrasing, especially on its interplay with phonemic, semantic, and syntactic information. An event-related brain potential (ERP) paradigm was chosen to record the on-line responses to the processing of sentences containing major prosodic boundaries. For the perception of these prosodic boundaries, the so-called closure positive shift (CPS) has been manifested as a reliable and replicable ERP component. It has mainly been shown to correlate to major intonational phrasing in spoken language. However, to define this component as exclusively relying on the prosodic information in the speech stream, it is necessary to systematically reduce the linguistic content of the stimulus material. This was done by creating quasi-natural sentence material with decreasing semantic, syntactic, and phonemic information (i. e., jabberwocky sentences, in which all content words were replaced by meaningless words; pseudoword sentences, in which all function and all content words are replaced by meaningless words; and delexicalized sentences, hummed intonation contour of a sentence removing all segmental content). The finding that a CPS was identified in all sentence types in correlation to the perception of their major intonational boundaries clearly indicates that this effect is driven purely by prosody.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2002

The contribution of visual areas to speech comprehension: a PET study in cochlear implants patients and normal-hearing subjects.

Early visual cortex can be recruited by meaningful sounds in the absence of visual information. This occurs in particular in cochlear implant (CI) patients whose dependency on visual cues in speech comprehension is increased. Such cross-modal interaction mirrors the response of early auditory cortex to mouth movements (speech reading) and may reflect the natural expectancy of the visual counterpart of sounds, lip movements. Here we pursue the hypothesis that visual activations occur specifically in response to meaningful sounds. We performed PET in both CI patients and controls, while subjects listened either to their native language or to a completely unknown language. A recruitment of early visual cortex, the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and the left superior parietal cortex was observed in both groups. While no further activation occurred in the group of normal-hearing subjects, CI patients additionally recruited the right perirhinal/fusiform and mid-fusiform, the right temporo-occipito-parietal (TOP) junction and the left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPF, Broca's area). This study confirms a participation of visual cortical areas in semantic processing of speech sounds. Observation of early visual activation in normal-hearing subjects shows that auditory-to-visual cross-modal effects can also be recruited under natural hearing conditions. In cochlear implant patients, speech activates the mid-fusiform gyrus in the vicinity of the so-called face area. This suggests that specific cross-modal interaction involving advanced stages in the visual processing hierarchy develops after cochlear implantation and may be the correlate of increased usage of lip-reading.

Auditory Cortex↗

PubMed2004

The effects of motor neurone disease on language: further evidence.

It might sound surprising that Motor Neurone Disease (MND), regarded still by many as the very example of a neurodegenerative disease affecting selectively the motor system and sparing the sensory functions as well as cognition, can have a significant influence on language. In this article we hope to demonstrate that language dysfunction is not only a pronounced and well documented symptom in some MND patients but also that the study of language in MND can address interesting theoretical questions about the representation of language and conceptual knowledge in the brain. After a brief introduction delineating clinical and pathological features of the disease we discuss the evidence available in the literature for language dysfunction in MND. We then present linguistic data from our own study of seven patients with MND/dementia/aphasia syndrome focusing on the dissociation between noun and verb processing. To illustrate the clinical, neuropsychological and linguistic aspects of MND we describe in more detail the patient E.N., a pathologically confirmed case of MND/dementia. Finally, we attempt to characterise the nature of the linguistic impairment in MND in the light of current debates about the mechanisms underlying noun/verb dissociation.

Anomia↗